BACKGROUND: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an increasing public health problem and poses a serious threat to global TB control. Fluoroquinolone (FQ) and aminoglycoside (AG) are essential anti-TB drugs for MDR-TB treatment. REBA MTB-FQ(R) and REBA MTB-KM(R) (M&D, Wonju, Korea) were evaluated for rapid detection of FQ and kanamycin (KM) resistance in MDR-TB clinical isolates. METHODS: M. tuberculosis (n=67) were isolated and cultured from the sputum samples of MDR-TB patients for extracting DNA of the bacilli. Mutations in genes, gyrA and rrs, that have been known to be associated with resistance to FQ and KM were analyzed using both REBA MTB-FQ(R) and REBA MTB-KM(R), respectively. The isolates were also utilized for a conventional phenotypic drug susceptibility test (DST) as the gold standard of FQ and KM resistance. The molecular and phenotypic DST results were compared. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity of REBA MTB-FQ(R) were 77 and 100%, respectively. Positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the assay were 100 and 95%, respectively, for FQ resistance. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of REBA MTB-KM(R) for detecting KM resistance were 66%, 94%, 70%, and 95%, respectively. CONCLUSION: REBA MTB-FQ(R) and REBA MTB-KM(R) evaluated in this study showed excellent specificities as 100 and 94%, respectively. However, sensitivities of the assays were low. It is essential to increase sensitivity of the rapid drug resistance assays for appropriate MDR-TB treatment, suggesting further investigation to detect new or other mutation sites of the associated genes in M. tuberculosis is required.
Chimera ; DNA ; Drug Resistance ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Fluoroquinolones ; Humans ; Kanamycin ; Kanamycin Resistance ; Mycobacterium ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Public Health ; Sputum ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant

BACKGROUND: Sputum decontamination with NALC-NaOH (N-acetyl-L-cysteine-sodium hydroxide) is known to better detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) by culture than that with using NaOH, which is widely used in Korean hospitals. In this report, sputum samples collected from pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients were treated with either NaOH or NALC-NaOH, and we compared the results of smear and culture positivity to determine whether the NALC-NaOH treatment method improves culture positivity in the sputum samples, and especially for those sputum samples that are smear negative and scanty. METHODS: For each decontamination method, 436 sputum samples from pulmonary TB patients in the National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital were collected for this study. Sputum from a patient was collected two times for the first and second day of sampling time, and these samples were employed for the decontamination process by performing the 4% NaOH and NALC-2% NaOH treatment methods, respectively, for detecting M. tb by an AFB (Acid Fast Bacilli) smear and also by culture in solid Ogawa medium. RESULTS: The NaOH and NALC-NaOH treatment methods did not significantly affect the AFB smear positivity of the sputum samples (33.0% vs 39.0%, respectively, p=0.078). However, the culture positive percents of M. tb in the Ogawa medium treated with NALC-NaOH and NaOH were 39.7% and 28.0%, respectively, which was a significantly different (p=0.0003). This difference in culture was more prominent in the sputum samples that were smear negative (the positive percents with NALC-NaOH and NaOH were 15.8% and 7.2%, respectively, p=0.0017) and scanty (NALC-NaOH and NaOH were 60.8% and 42.9%, respectively, p=0.036), but not for a smear that was 1+ or higher (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: NALC-NaOH treatment is better than NaOH treatment for the detection of M. tb by culture, but not by smear, and especially when the AFB smear is negative and scanty.
Decontamination ; Hospitals, Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Nitroimidazoles ; Sputum ; Sulfonamides ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment in end stage renal disease for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) patients. Removal of the native kidney is not usually recommended for ADPKD patients during a transplantation procedure because the operation time may be prolonged or the risk of bleeding may be higher. Therefore, native kidney removal is indicated for patients with chronic pain by enlarged kidney, frequent complications from cysts, such as infection or bleeding, and renal tumor development. Here, we report a case of a patient whose native kidneys were removed during a kidney transplantation procedure, and multifocal adenomas were identified in the removed kidneys after the procedure.
Adenoma* ; Chronic Pain ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Polycystic Kidney Diseases* ; Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Dominant*

PURPOSE: Copeptin has been considered as a useful marker for diagnosis and prediction of prognosis in heart diseases. However, copeptin has not been investigated sufficiently in hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to investigate the general features of copeptin in hemodialysis and to examine the usefulness of copeptin in hemodialysis patients with left ventricular dysfunction (LV dysfunction). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 41 patients on regular hemodialysis. Routine laboratory data and peptides such as the N-terminal of the prohormone brain natriuretic peptide and copeptin were measured on the day of hemodialysis. Body fluid volume was estimated by bioimpedance spectroscopy, and the E/Ea ratio was estimated by echocardiography. RESULTS: Copeptin increased to 171.4 pg/mL before hemodialysis. The copeptin had a positive correlation with pre-dialysis body fluid volume (r=0.314; p=0.04). The copeptin level decreased along with body fluid volume and plasma osmolality during hemodialysis. The copeptin increased in the patients with LV dysfunction more than in those with normal LV function (218.7 pg/mL vs. 77.6 pg/mL; p=0.01). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that copeptin had a diagnostic value in the hemodialysis patients with LV dysfunction (area under curve 0.737; p=0.02) and that the cut-off value was 125.48 pg/mL (sensitivity 0.7, specificity 0.8, positive predictive value 0.9, negative predictive value 0.6). CONCLUSION: Copeptin increases in hemodialysis patients and is higher in patients with LV dysfunction. We believe that copeptin can be a useful marker for the diagnosis of LV dysfunction in hemodialysis patients.
Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers/blood ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Glycopeptides/*blood ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/*blood/complications/therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/blood ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Renal Dialysis/*adverse effects ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/*blood/complications/*physiopathology